On the West Coast at schools like UCLA and USC, men's volleyball is an NCAA Division I sport but not in other regions across the country.
The sport is becoming increasingly popular and students at The U of M are joining in.
Though it will be not be a Division I sport at Memphis, a group of men got together and with the help of women's volleyball head coach Carrie Yerty and John Duncan of U of M club sports, they started their own club volleyball team.
About a month ago, senior sports management major Michael Ralph and junior advertising major Freddie Bargiacci IV began posting ads all over campus and the city to gain support.
But it wasn't an easy acquisition.
"We had to jump through a lot of hoops to get gym time, to form a constitution, register with the Student Activities Council and get a checking account," said Ralph, who is vice president of the team.
"If it wasn't for Coach Yerty we wouldn't have the equipment to make it happen."
The team also had to have a faculty advisor and a coach.
They chose Assistant Area Coordinator LaVonne Hill, formerly of the women's soccer team as their advisor and Chris Childers who is seeking his master's degree at The University.
Hill said 16 out of 30 people made the team and many of those who showed up for tryouts were not students at the U of M.
"A lot of people who heard about tryouts were not students and now want to come here in the spring," she said. "We have players from Brazil, Canada, South Africa and Greece."
She also said that all levels of play are accepted.
"The whole purpose is not to go out and win, but to build camaraderie and to promote volleyball throughout the Mid-South," she said.
Childers was an assistant coach at his alma mater Central Michigan and also coached girl's volleyball at Chippewa Hills in Remus, Mich., before coming to Memphis.
"I played under three different coaches (in college) so, what I learned, I am applying here-stressing fundamentals and applying techniques, but emphasizing team," Childers said.
The team practices three times a week in the fieldhouse from 8-10 p.m. and will play in tournaments against other men's club teams across the country, specifically in the Delta region.
Bargiacchi, the president of the club team, said that Tulane, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi State, MTSU and Vanderbilt are among some of the schools participating.
He also mentioned that the season will start when the spring semester begins, so he is in the process of getting uniforms and sponsors over the holiday break.
"We've contacted Mikasa, Asics, Federal Express," he said. "Locally, we're going to try to hit FedEx, IP [International Paper] and Nike hard.
The dues for players are $80 per semester and transportation and lodging to tournaments is not included, but Childers said players can expect to see immediate improvement in their game.
"After three weeks, you can see the level of play increase tremendously," he said. "We were surprised at the level of players that turned out. The first three weeks they have gelled as a team. Next semester we'll be really competitive against the teams we'll be playing."
